Virtual Love
by Kalira423
Summary: Sequal to Love's Neverending Faith. Seto and Cat test out his new virtual game, but problems arise when they are trapped and they forget they love each other. Can they remember in time to beat the game?
1. 1 always working

Disclaimer- I do not own Yugioh. I should think that was obvious. Ok now that I have said that…

Authors note- ok, this is the sequel to Love's Neverending Faith. So if you haven't read that then I suggest that you do. Now I said in that story that this one would revolve around Battle City, but I thought of something that I liked better and the first few chapters might be a little boring, but please just stick with me. 

Cat walked into Seto's office to see him hard at work typing on his computer. She smiled as she slipped unnoticed behind him and hugged him from behind. 

Seto stopped what he was doing as he turned to look at her. 

"Hey." He said. Cat gave him a cheerful smile. 

"Hey, what are you working on?" She asked looking at the computer screen. 

"A new type of virtual game." He said. 

"So is this what has been keeping my boyfriend from seeing me?" she asked. 

"Cat, you know that I'm trying to run a company and…." Seto stopped when Cat put a finger to his lips. 

"I was kidding." She said with a smile. Seto gave her a rare smile as she kissed him. 

"Well, I'll let you get back to work." She said. "I just came by to give something to Mokuba and I wanted to stop in and say hi to you while I was here." 

"I'm glad you did." Seto said as he pulled her down and gave her another kiss. Cat then left as Seto watched her leave.

"Hey Cat." He said as she reached for the door handle.

"Yes?" she asked. 

"When I'm finished with the game, would you test it with me?" 

Cat smiled. "Of course." 

 She turned and gave him another smile as he got back to work. Seto glanced at his computer as he idly looked at the screen. He was happy. It had taken him a long time to finally admit to himself and her that he loved her but he finally did. Now she was his girlfriend and a quite understanding one at that. He had to work long hours recently and she was willing to take the back burner for now and even took care of Mokuba when he had to work late. Which was nice because Mokuba simply adored her, as did he. But he intended to make it up to her. He had even created a special character that she would play in the virtual game just for her. He smiled, this was defiantly one of his better ideas for a game and he couldn't wait to try it out. All he needed was a few more days and it would be done. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marik watched from a distance as Cat left the Kaiba mansion. He gave a scowl. 

"Soon my dear girl. Very soon you will be mine." He said as he quickly disappeared and vanished out of sight.

 A.N.- Yeah I know that this chap wasn't very long but they will be longer after this. So please R&R and I will try to update soon. 


	2. 2 It's finished

A few days later Cat received a call from Seto. 

"It's finished." He said simply. 

"You finished that game?" Cat asked. Seto nodded even though he knew she couldn't see.

"Yeah, ready to try it out?" 

"Yeah!" Cat replied. 

"How many players is it for?" she asked. 

"Anywhere from two to six" Seto answered. 

"And how many people are going in on this test run?" Cat asked. 

"It was just going to be you and me." 

"I think it would be more fun to have six people in the game." Cat said. 

"Then who would you suggest to join us?" Seto asked. 

"I bet Yugi and Joey would like to come." She said softly. 

"You know how I feel about that mutt." Seto said trying to control his temper at the mention of Joey's name. 

"I know." Cat said quickly. "But think how much fun it will be to beat him at the game." Cat said. Seto thought for a moment. 

"Fine." He said. "Anyone else you want?" 

"How about Mai?" Cat suggested. 

"Whatever," was Seto's reply. "I'll send a limo over to pick you up soon." 

"Alright, I'll see you soon then." 

"Bye." Seto said as he hung up the phone. He wasn't looking forward to playing the game with Cat's brother and his dumb friends, but he wanted to make her happy so he agreed. He leaned back in his chair and smiled. 

_'They can just be on the opposing team.'_ He thought with a chuckle. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marik was sitting in a chair brooding when a knock sounded on his door. 

"Enter." He ordered as a man in a dark cape walked in to the room. 

"Master Marik, I have news on Kaiba's game." The man said as he bowed at Marik's feet. 

"What is that?" Marik asked. 

"He is planning on testing out the game today. He is taking Cat and her brother, Joey, and Mai to test it out at one of his research labs." Marik nodded as he processed the information. He stood up silently as he looked at his Millennium Rod. 

"Good work." He said as he walked out of the room. He knew exactly what he needed to do now. If he was going to get Cat then the first thing that he needed to do was drive a wedge between her and Seto. Then she would turn to him in sadness and he would be pharaoh. After all she was the reincarnation of the Pharaohs sister. So if he killed Yami and married Cat, then there would be no way for anyone to stop him from being pharaoh. Marik walked outside to his motorcycle as he put on his helmet. Yes, things were working out perfectly. Marik gave a smile as he started the bike and roared off.


	3. 3 Rules and evil plans

Yugi and the others followed Cat as she walked beside Seto. He had picked them up and taken them to his research lab. Seto typed in the code to unlock the door as he stepped inside. Seto led them down a series of hallways until he came to the appropriate room. 

"Where's Mokuba?" Yugi asked as they entered the room. 

"He's busy with something for school." Seto replied as he stopped in front of the virtual pods. He turned to them as he pressed a button as one of the covers opened with a whoosh. 

"Alright," he said. "This game is fairly simple that I think ever someone like Wheeler can figure out how to play." Joey balled his fists. 

"Kaiba!" he yelled as Cat shot him a warning look. Seto ignored Joey's anger as he continued his explanation. 

"To bring out a monster, just hold out the card and call the name of the monster. Just like you did in the other virtual game. This game is similar to capture the flag, except instead of capturing the flag you have to capture the other team's crystal. Once you have both crystals your team must then travel to the realm of the beast. Once there, use the two crystals to unlock the door to a special duel monsters card that will help you to beat the monster at the end of the game. Understand?" 

Everyone nodded in understanding as Seto showed then where to put their dueling decks. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marik's motorcycle roared to a stop as he got off. He stared up at the impressive building. He then made his way around the building until he saw a side entrance with a guard. Taking out his millennium rod he held it out to the guard. The guard's eyes became pupil less as Marik instructed the man to let him in. The guard did as he was asked, responding with a monotone 

"Yes, master Marik." Marik made his way down the hallway, heading for the control room. He knew that once he was in the control room he would be able to change a few things in Kaiba's game and then he would get what he wanted. He gave a chuckle as he found the door and pushed his way inside. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seto watched as Cat and the others got into their respective pods. He gave a nod to the operator to start the program once he was in his pod. He had already given him specific instructions as to how this game was going to be played out. Seto got into his pod and waited for the game to begin. Since Seto was in the game he didn't see Marik's shadow behind the operator. The operator moved silently in the booth as he changed the game specifically to fit his plans. The operator stood silently by as Marik looked at the machine cards for Seto and Cat. Once the game was started and he took those out, their memories of each other would vanish and then he could use that to his advantage. Marik gave an evil laugh as the operator flicked the on switch the start the game. The room below hissed with energy as the five were sent into the game. Marik sat back in a chair to watch how things were going to play out and when the best time for him to make his entrance would be. 

"Wait, I almost forgot." He said as he reached forward and pulled out Seto and Cat's memory cards. Marik pocketed the two cards. Now things would get interesting. 

A.N. -hey sorry this choppy was so short, next one will be longer. And please remember to read and review. If no one reviews I won't update. So please review.


	4. 4 This is a game?

Cat felt a strange sensation of a forgotten memory that she had never felt before as she was sent into the game. It felt like she was leaving a part of herself behind, like something was missing. She closed her eyes as she waited for the game to begin, inwardly shrugging. Whatever it was she felt it didn't really matter. Soon, Cat felt herself lying on a bed. She sat up and looked at her surroundings. She was a in a decorated room. The walls and ceiling and floor were made of stone. There were two windows looking outside as she stood up and walked over. She looked out at the window to see a courtyard of a palace, servants and duel monsters running every which way, completing the tasks that they had been assigned. Cat smiled as she walked over to a mirror that was in the room and gazed at her reflection, she was wearing a white off the shoulders dress that flowed down to the floor. Her hair was down as it normally was and around her shoulders was a white cape with a hood, matching the dress perfectly. Around her neck was a blue crystal. She fingered the crystal as she gave a smile and walked out of the room. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Yugi opened his eyes to find himself in a place that was similar to the one the Cat had found herself in, a stone bedroom. He got up and looked around as he caught a look of himself in the mirror. He was wearing a white princely looking outfit. He turned around looking at himself. 

"Huh, I wonder what's with the costume." He said as he looked around. 

"I wonder where the others are. Maybe I should go look for them." Having decided what to do Yugi left the room and started walking down the hallway, intent on finding his sister, Tea, or Joey. He walked down the hallway and came to a set of large wooden double doors. He pushed the door open as he peeked inside, He saw Cat sitting next to a man who was talking to a group of five or six important looking people. Everyone turned to look at Yugi as he opened the door.  The man who had been talking looked at him with a smile. 

"I see my son has finally decided to join us." He said. Yugi gaped. 

_'Son? What is he talking about?'_ Yugi wondered as he stepped inside. Cat smiled at Yugi as she patted the seat next to her. Yugi sat down next to her confused as she looked at him. 

"I was wondering when you were going to get here." She said with a smile. "You're always late." She teased. 

"Who is that guy, Cat?" Yugi asked pointing to the man who had called him son. Cat raised an eyebrow as she looked at Yugi like he was crazy. 

"Come on Yugi," she said. "Stop playing around, you know who that is." Yugi looked back at the man as he observed his graying hair and kind eyes. 

_'He kinda looks like Grandpa.' _Yugi thought with realization as he continued to stare at him. _'Is that why Cat knows him? Did Kaiba put my Grandpa in the game? But then why did he call me son?'_

"Did Kaiba put Grandpa in the game?" he asked Cat. Cat looked at him strangely. 

"Kaiba? Whose Kaiba?" she asked truly puzzled. Yugi stared at her in disbelief. Cat not know who Kaiba was? This was too weird. Something was going on and Yugi was determined to figure out what. 

"You know, Seto Kaiba? Your boyfriend." He said. Cat shook her head. 

"I don't have a boyfriend." She said. "And I don't know a Seto Kaiba either, and neither do you." She said knowingly. 

"Yes, you do. He's the one who made this game." Yugi insisted. Cat continued to stare at him. 

"Are you ok little bro?" She asked. "What game? This isn't a game." She said. Yugi was about to say something else when the man who had called Yugi son looked at him. 

"Something you two would like to share with the counsel?" He asked giving Cat and Yugi a look. Cat blushed; embarrassed at being caught talking shook her head. 

"No sir." She responded as the man nodded. Cat gave a sigh of relief as she looked at Yugi. 

"That was close; we better pay attention before father gets really mad." She said turning her attention back to the man. Yugi looked around the room in confusion. 

_'Father? What was she talking about?'_ Yugi gave a sigh as he sat back in his chair. Something was defiantly wrong. 

That is the end of chapter four. I hope you enjoyed it and please people review. If I don't get enough reviews I might not post the next chapter. I'm not going to write it if no one is going to read it. So please review. 


	5. 5 confusion and questions

Seto opened his eyes as he looked around the room he was in. It was relatively the same as Cat and Yugi's room. One thing he noticed what that it was decorated with different pictures of a Blue Eyes White Dragon. He smiled as he got up and went down the hall. He opened the doors that led to a large room, a man sat on a throne at the end of the room as Seto walked in. 

"Good Seto. You awake. Now we can begin." The man said. 

"Begin what?" Seto asked. 

"Planning our attack." The man said. "I know that you hit your head in your training yesterday, but surely you haven't forgotten that we are at war." Seto shook his head. 

"I knew that." He replied. 

"Good, then we shall begin discussing our next plan of attack." He said. Seto nodded as he sat down in the throne next to him. Seto surveyed the people and creatures in the room. Various duel monsters and people were gathered around Seto and the man next to him. He gave a smirk. 

"What do you think we should do next, Prince Seto?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Joey and Mai awoke to find themselves, not in a castle like the other three, but an ordinary house. Joey sat up on his bed and looked over at Mai who was doing the same. 

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I don't know. I wonder where Yugi and Cat are." Joey answered.

"And Kaiba." Mai added. Joey clenched his fist.

"Kaiba, I bet that jerk separated us on purpose." He yelled.

"Calm down Joey." Mai said as she stood up. "I bet Yugi and Cat are in another room. Come on lets go look." She said as she walked to the door. Joey got up and followed her as well as they began exploring the house that they were in.

~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Yugi sat quietly all during the counsel meeting, trying to figure out what was going on. Apparently when they were sent into the game, something happened to Cat that made her forget about Seto and their world. She seemed to think that this game was real life. 

_'But why does she not remember Kaiba, but still remembers me?' _Yugi couldn't figure it out and he was anxious for this meeting to be over so he could find the others and figure out what was going on. Yugi was so lost in thought that he missed what everyone was talking about. He was brought back when the man next to him pounded his hand on the table. 

"It is decided then. The prince and princess will go to a training house and help with the battles." The man said. Everyone nodded in agreement as they stood up and slowly left the room. Yugi looked at Cat who was smiling. 

"Who are the prince and princess?" Yugi asked. Cat looked at him and smiled as she ruffled his hair. 

"We are silly. You knew that." Cat said. Yugi's mouth hung open. "We are?" he asked. Well that explained the outfit. 

"When your father is the king, you end up being a prince Yugi." She said as she stood up. 

"Come on, we better get packing." She said. Yugi followed mutely, sorting things out in his mind. From what he could tell, Kaiba had set up the game so that he and Cat were the prince and princess of some country. And apparently they were in a war with the opposing side. And now he and Cat were going to be joining in the fight by going to this training house. Maybe that was where they would meet up with the others. He hoped so, maybe they would know why Cat seemed to have forgotten Kaiba. He sighed as he followed Cat back to the room he woke up in. Things were very confusing. 


	6. 6 Finding the others

Cat and Yugi sat quietly as they made their way to the training house. They had changed out of their royalty outfit and were now in jeans and T-shirt like they normally wore. Both had their deck strapped to their sides. Once they got to the house, Yugi rapped on the door. He gasped when the door opened to reveal Joey. 

"Yugi! We finally found ya!" he said as he pulled him inside. 

"Hey Mai! I found them." He yelled through the house. Cat watched in surprise as she followed Yugi inside. Mai walked out of a room as she flashed the two a smile. 

"'Bout time we found you two. We were starting to get worried." She said. 

"Have you guys been here the whole time?" Yugi asked. Joey and Mai nodded. 

"What about you?" Mai asked. "Where did you guys start off Cat?" 

Cat looked startled. " Start off?" Cat said looked puzzled. " What do you mean? And how…how do you know my name?" She asked looking from Yugi and then back to Mai and Joey. "Did Yugi tell you? And Yugi, how do you know them?" she asked. The other three blinked in surprise as they stared at her. Yugi gave Mai and Joey a look that said, 'I'll explain later.' 

"Well," Yugi said trying to think of a reason. "We are the prince and princess right? So it's obvious that they know who we are." He said. Cat nodded as she walked off to observe the house as Mai and Joey looked to Yugi for an explanation. 

"Prince and princess?" Mai asked. Yugi shrugged. "Hey I was just as confused as you." 

"What's going on with her?" Joey asked as he looked in the direction that Cat had gone when she left the room. 

Yugi shrugged. "I have no idea. She has no idea who you guys are or Kaiba either. She acted like she had never heard of him."

"Cat, not know who Kaiba is? That's weird." Mai said. 

"I know, it's like she thinks this is real and that the real world doesn't exist." Yugi said. 

Joey shrugged his shoulder. "Maybe Kaiba will know what to do." He said.

"Is he here?" Yugi asked. Joey and Mia looked at each other. 

"We kinda assumed that he would be with Cat." Mai said. 

"He wasn't with us." Yugi said. "I guess I thought he would be with you guys." 

"So if he's isn't with you and he wasn't with us… where is he then?" Joey asked. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seto stared with a bored attention as the counsel continued deliberations. He already knew that the outcome would be. No one went against the prince, especially when the prince was him. 

"All right, then it is settled." The king said as Seto looked at him. "Prince Seto will go to a training house in the enemy territory and search for the crystal." Everyone nodded and gave grunts of approval as they looked to Seto. Seto looked back at them with his normal bored expression. Seto stood up and walked out of the room, his black cape billowing behind him. Seto walked to his room to begin preparations for his mission. First he had to get the enemy to allow him into a training house, and then he had to find the crystal. Thank goodness he had had the foresight to keep his name a secret. If the opposing kingdom knew that he was the prince of Tlanth then it would be all over. He smirked as he reached his room. But they didn't know and he was going to get that crystal. 

"It's about time they let me have my own mission." He said as he prepared to leave.

"I am the best duelist out of anyone in this entire kingdom." He said as he looked at his deck. He looked through his deck until he saw his blue eyes. 

"And I bet that I am the best duelist in their kingdom too!" he said with a laugh as he left and started getting ready to leave. 


	7. 7 New teammate

Cat woke up the next morning to find her brother and the other two at the kitchen table talking. She had a feeling that her brother knew these people from somewhere and it seemed odd to her. She had felt certain she knew everyone her brother knew, and yet, they were acting like old friends. Cat shrugged, it didn't really matter anyway. She sat down next to Mia as she looked at everyone.

"Good morning." She said. The others returned her greeting with their own. 

"Did you hear the news?" Yugi asked her as she takes an apple. 

"What news?" she asked taking a bite. 

"Apparently your father has decided to give our little team here another fighter." Joey said. 

Cat blinked. "Another fighter?" she said. 

Mai nodded. "Yes, he is supposed to be really good and have some strong duel monsters." 

Cat turned her head. "I really don't think we need anyone else." She said simply. 

The others looked at her strangely. "That isn't like you Cat." Yugi said. 

Cat looked at him. "I'm not trying to be mean or anything. I just think us four can handle any battles we encounter." 

"Well, like it or not. Your father told him that he is to help us out and he is coming." Mia said. 

"When?" Cat asked. 

"Today." Joey answered. Cat nodded in resignation as she stood up to leave the room. 

"What's his name?" She asked as a second thought. 

"Kaiba, Seto Kaiba." Yugi said. Cat stopped her retreat to her room at the mention of the name. 

"Seto?" She said slowly, rolling the name around on her tongue. The other three looked up, hoping she would remember. Cat turned around.

"Yugi, isn't that the guy you said was my boyfriend?" she asked. 

"Yes." Yugi answered. Cat smiled, "See, I told you he wasn't my boyfriend. He's another fighter." Yugi sighed as Cat left. 

"I just don't understand, why doesn't she remember him?" Joey asked. The other two shook their heads. 

"Maybe, once she sees him, she'll remember." Mai said. 

"Hope so." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seto looked at the training house. They sent him here? Seto clenched his fists together. '_Those incompetent fools!' _ Seto thought. _'Of all the battle teams in this kingdom they chose this one?! Pathetic.' _Seto walked up to the door and gave an annoyed knock. Yugi opened the door and looked at Seto. 

"Kaiba." He said. 

"You must be Yugi, I was sent here to be the other team member." Seto said, trying to control his irritation. He wasn't really sure why, but something about the little tri-colored haired boy was familiar. And this familiarity was unsettling, but he pushed his feelings aside. He was here to do a job, and he was going to find that stupid crystal. 

"Yes, please come in." Yugi said stepping aside as Seto entered. 

"Where are your things?"  He asked. Seto barely even gave him a glance as he answered. "It's coming later." 

Yugi nodded as he led him down the hall. "Your room is that one right there. As soon as your ready come to the living room and you can meet everyone else." Yugi said cheerfully. Seto ignored him as he moved to his room. 

Cat was in the room, preparing it for their new team mate as she stood up. "Finished." She said triumphantly. She turned around and bumped into a strong chest and started falling back. A pair of strong arms shot out and caught her around the waist as Cat found herself staring into a pair of the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen. 


	8. 8 glances and denial

Cat blinked as she looked at the owner of the blue eyes. An embarrassed flush filled her cheeks as she took in his arms around her waist. 

Seto, who had out of instinct caught her, let her go quickly, but not before making she could stand on her own. 

"Thank you." Cat said softly. Seto looked at her, not giving an answer. 

"You must be the new duelist." Cat guessed. "I'm Cathryn, but everyone calls me Cat." 

"I'm Seto." He said as he moved past her. Cat looked at him a minute longer as she edged toward the door. 

"Well, I am going to see the others. Guess I'll see you later." She said as she left the room. Seto turned to look at the doorway she had just left through. Something, something about that girl. Seto shrugged, like it even mattered. He would stay here, learn where the crystal was, and then get it. Once his job was done, he could return home to his country. After Seto had gotten settled into his room he made his way to the living room. He entered to see the tri colored hair boy, sitting next to a blond dumb looking guy on the couch.  In a chair was a blond haired woman and sitting in the love seat was the brown haired girl that was in his room. Yugi looked up as Seto looked at everyone in the room. 

"Hi, is your room fine?" Yugi asked. Seto gave a stiff nod as Yugi stood up. 

"Guys, this is Seto Kaiba." Yugi said in introduction. Everyone gave a polite nod as Yugi continued. 

"Kaiba, this is Mai, and Joey." Yugi said pointing to the two blonds. "And this is my sister, Cat." 

"We've met." Seto said glancing at her. Yugi felt hope for a moment, maybe Kaiba did know what was going on. "She was in my room." 

Yugi sighed, so maybe he didn't know. The rest of the afternoon went by fairly well. Seto didn't say much, as everyone talked around him. Try as hard as he could, Seto's eyes kept moving over to study Cat's profile. Cat felt his gaze as she turned her golden eyes to his. Seto felt a rush of heat in his cheeks, embarrassed at being caught staring, as he turned his face away. Cat looked at him curiously for a moment before turning her attention back to the conversation. Later that night, everyone went to their rooms. Mia and Cat had a room together, while Joey and Yugi shared a room. Seto was the only one with his own room. After the girls were settled into their room, Mai turned to Cat. 

"So, what do you think of the new guy." She asked, hoping that Cat would show some sign of recognition. 

Cat thought about how she had caught Seto looking at her as a blush filled her cheeks. "Honestly?" she asked. Mai nodded.

"Well, I think he is sorta cute." She said quietly. 

"Only sorta?" Mai pressed. She knew that Cat had always thought of Seto as hot.

"Alright, he is really cute." She said. "But I could never be interested in a guy like that." 

Mai looked amused. "oh?" she said. "And why is that?" 

Cat looked out the window. "He seems so prideful, and I don't know, he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy would ever be interested in a girl." 

"You think he's gay?" Mai asked, trying to contain her laughter. Cat blushed deep red. 

"NO!" she said hurriedly. "I just think that he seems kinda workaholicish." She said. Mai smiled to herself. Cat had no idea how right she was. Kaiba was a workaholic, that is until he met Cat. She shook her head. It was weird to her that Cat and Kaiba didn't know each other, but maybe Seto had planned that in the game. She looked over at Cat again. Well, she would see that no matter what she said, she and Kaiba were made for each other.  


	9. 9 jealousy and new acquaintances

Joey and Yugi were in their room, talking about everything that had happened so far. 

"It's really weird." Yugi said to Joey. "It's like she doesn't remember anything." 

"She's not the only one acting crazy. Kaiba acted like he had never met any of us. Course he always acted like that." 

"But he didn't even seem to remember Cat at all." Yugi pointed out. 

"You got me Yuge. It's all too weird for me." Joey said as he sat down on his bed. 

"I have a feeling that our best bet is to continue through the game." Yugi said as he turned out the lights. "Maybe once we reach a certain level, Cat and Kaiba will start regaining their memories back." 

Joey nodded as they two friends said their goodnights and went to sleep. 

Meanwhile, across the hall, Seto was going through his deck. He shuffled his cards until he found his blue eyes as he stared at it. 

_'I better find out where they are hiding this crystal soon. I don't want to be here longer than I have too.'_ He thought irritable to himself as he put his deck away. Something about the people he had met today bothered him. That blond haired guy, Joey, really got on his nerves and the small kid, Yugi…well, there was something about him that made him uneasy. Although he wasn't really sure what it was. Seto laid down as the image of the brown haired, golden eyed girl popped into his head. _'What was her name again?'_ he asked himself. _'Yes, Cat, that was her name.'_ Seto stared at the wall. She was the only one in this house who didn't seem to be a complete waste of space. Seto shook his head. This whole thing was just stupid. If his kingdom didn't want their crystal so much, than he would have just left already, but need it they did and so he was forced to stay until he found it. Seto stayed up late that night, thinking about strategies to use to find the crystal, but when he finally did fall asleep, he didn't dream of attack power. He dreamed of the golden eyed girl in the next room. 

The next morning, Yugi woke everyone up with interesting news. 

"Guys, we just got a letter from the king. There is a battle going on a couple of miles from here and the king says our help is needed." 

Everyone quickly dressed and grabbed their decks. Once outside, everyone called a monster to their side. 

"Red Eyes Black Dragon." Joey called as his red eyes appeared with a roar next to him. 

"Curse of Dragon!" Yugi yelled as his curse of dragon was summoned next to him. Cat summoned her firewing Pegasus, Mia her Harpies Lady, and Seto his Blue eyes. 

"You have blue eyes?" Cat asked Seto as she mounted her Pegasus. Seto smirked. 

"Three." He said proudly, in an attempt to impress her, although he never really understood why he wanted too. Cat gave an approving smile as Seto mounted his Blue eyes and the team headed off toward the battle. Cat flew through the air on the back of her Pegasus, watching Seto flying nearby. 

_'He must be a powerful duelist if he has three Blue eyes.'_ She thought. _'Maybe having him with us won't be so bad after all.'_ The group finally arrived at the site of the battle as they landed. They immediately began battling against the numerous battle oxes, giant moths, vorse raiders, and twin headed king rexes' that were viciously attacking. Yugi called his dark magician as Joey and Mia's dragon and harpies attacked together as a team. 

"Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack!" Seto commanded as his blue eyes attacked a nearby battle ox. Cat's firewing Pegasus took down a giant moth. Seto had just obliterated a vorse raider when he turned to see a king rex about to attack Cat. He felt a sudden sense of panic for her safety as he called out a warning. Cat turned with a look of surprise as the king rex suddenly fell down dead. Seto rushed to her side as a sandy haired boy with amethyst eyes appeared. 

"You ok?" the mysterious boy asked. Cat nodded. "Yes, thank you." The boy shook his head. 

"It was no trouble at all. By the way, my name is Marik." Cat smiled warmly, as Seto looked at Cat's smile and then at Marik as a strange feeling of jealousy settled in his stomach. 

A.N. – sorry it has taken me so long to update. I had a little bit of writers block and I am slowly trying to work through it. ^_^ anyway, I hope you are all enjoying the story so far and please remember to review! Thanks! 


	10. 10 living in denial

Not long after Marik had saved Cat from the attacking monster, the rest of the team had chased away all the others. Yugi, Joey, and Mai, walked over to where Kaiba stood with his hands crossed, glaring at Marik who was talking to Cat. 

"What's up with you?" Joey asked as they neared the seething CEO. 

"Mind your own business mutt!" Seto snapped as Joey frowned. 

"Whoa! What happened to you? Your Blue Eyes lose?" Joey taunted. Seto ignored him as Mai smiled. 

"He didn't lose, he's jealous of our little friend over there." Mai said nodding her head in the direction of Marik and Cat. 

Yugi gasped. "It's Marik!" 

"I'm NOT jealous." Seto said haughtily to Mai. "To be jealous, that would mean I would have to actually find that girl attractive." 

Mai smiled knowingly. "Well, don't you?" Seto glared at her as he took another look at Cat's profile. He wanted to deny Mai's statement, but he did find her attractive. Seto averted his eyes as he stared at some far away object. 

"Whatever," he muttered as Mai gave a knowing smile. 

"What is Marik doing here?" Yugi asked Joey. 

"Maybe Kaiba programmed him in the game?" Joey suggested. 

"Don't you think that he would have warned us about that?" Yugi said. "If not us at least Cat?" 

"Maybe he did." Mai said. "But remember, Cat and Kaiba don't seem to remember anything." 

"I wish you three loser would stop talking about me as if I wasn't here!" Seto said behind Joey. "It's not like I can't hear you three saying my name over and over again!"  He had heard something about him and a game, and it made no sense to him. He was just tired of them talking about him.

Yugi gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, but does that guy look familiar to you at all?" Seto looked at Marik out of the corner of his eye. 

"No, and I don't think I would care even if I did know him." He replied. Yugi didn't say anything more as Cat and Marik walked over to them. 

"Hey guys, this is Marik." She said introducing the sandy haired boy. Marik looked at the expression on each person's face. 

Yugi, Joey, and Mai were in puzzled silence, while Seto was attempting to not act like he was jealous. Marik smiled to himself. 

_'Things are going perfectly, Kaiba and cat have no memory of me or each other, and these other three buffoons aren't sure if I'm part of the game or real.' _Marik chuckled at his cleverness. 

"Well, I guess we are all done here." Cat said looking over at their battle field. The others nodded. 

"Would you like to care to come back with us Marik? It's the least I could do to repay you for saving my life." Seto was about to object when Marik spoke up. 

"I thank you for your kindness, but I have to get back home." 

Cat nodded. "I understand." She replied. "I was nice meeting you."

"as it was you." Marik responded. 

"Will we see you again?" Cat asked eagerly. 

Marik looked at Seto's annoyed look then back to Cat. 

"Absolutely." He answered as he turned and left. Mai, Joey, Yugi, Seto and Cat all called their monsters as they headed back home. Mai riding on Cat's Pegasus, while Yugi rode his curse of dragon. Joey sat atop his red eyes, while Cat rode the blue eyes with Seto. Her arms holding onto his waist. 

"Do you think that we will see Marik again?" Cat asked Seto. Seto rolled his eyes. 

"Like I care." He snapped. Cat realized she had upset him and said no more the rest of the way back. Seto felt bad that he had snapped at her, but it made him see red when he thought of Cat's obvious interest in Marik. But what really made him mad, was the fact that he cared. 

_'I am here to get the crystal,' _he thought as they flew down toward the house. _'And the sooner I find it. The sooner I can get away from these losers.' _He thought with satisfaction.


	11. 11 finding out his secret

The next few weeks had Seto in an even worse mood. If that was even possible. They had many battles that they were called to, and Marik showed up at each and every one of them. And every time he showed up, he was with Cat. Seto punched the wall in frustration that Marik really ticked him off. The fact that he had the nerve to try to take Cat's attention off of him, and then the fact that he cared. And he was nowhere close to finding the crystal. Seto ran a hand through his hair in an agitated way; he needed to get out of here. 

Seto walked out of his room and bumped right into Cat. 

"Seto." She said with a smile. "Sorry about that." Seto looked at her sincere smile and despite his bad mood returned it. 

"It's fine." He answered. Cat noticed his deck in his hand. 

"Where are you going?" she asked. Just then the front door opened as Marik made his way inside. Seto threw him a dirty look.

"I need some air." He growled as he pushed past Marik. 

"Hello Kaiba." Marik said with a smirk as he turned his attentions to Cat. "Hello Cat." He said as he kissed her hand. 

Kaiba watched as he narrowed his eyes. 

"Will you be back soon?" cat asked Seto as he opened the door. 

"Will Marik still be here when I get back?" he asked faking politeness.

Cat nodded. "Probably." She answered.

"then no," Seto snapped as he slammed the door. Cat frowned at his rudeness.

"I'm sorry Marik." She apologized. "I don't know what is wrong with him." Marik smiled coolly.

"It's alright." He said.

"No, it isn't. I'll talk him when he gets back." She said determined as she and Marik went to meet the others. 

Seto called out his blue eyes and he flew toward his palace. He clenched his hands into fists as the wind ruffled his hair.  He soon landed in the palace courtyard as four servants rushed to his side. 

"Prince Seto, your back." One man said. 

"Did you retrieve the crystal?" another question. Seto ignored their questions as he went to see his father. 

"My son." The king said as Seto burst through the doors. "You have returned. With the crystal I hope." Seto's mood grew even worse. 

"No, they have it well hidden. More so than I expected, but I will find it." He answered. 

"Then what are you doing here?" The king asked slightly curious as to Seto's bad mood. Seto wasn't sure why he had come here either. All he knew was that he has wanted to get away from Marik. The rest of the day calmed Seto's temper as he flew back to the house. He landed outside the front door and went straight to his room, relieved that Marik was gone. 

Cat poked her head out of her room, hearing the slam of a door as she saw Seto disappear into his room. 

"I'll be back in a second Mai." Cat told the blond. Mai looked up from her deck. 

"Where ya going?" she asked. 

"I need to have a talk with Seto." She answered as she left the room. Mai smiled knowingly as she went back to looking through her deck. Cat stood outside Seto's door as she noticed it was open a crack. She knocked softly. There was no answer as she peeked in. Seto was undressing as he threw off his shirt. Cat stared at his masculine chest and was about to leave when a small mark caught her eye. She pressed closer to the door, careful to not be seen as she squinted; trying to make it out. She let out a soft gasp when she saw the tiny KC on his shoulder. She stepped away from the door and leaned against the wall in shock. 

_'KC,_' she thought. _'That's the mark for Tlanth, our enemy. But, if he has that mark then…' _her thoughts dropped off as the realization rocked her. Seto was actually Prince Seto Kaiba. He must have been sent here to spy on them and find the crystal. Cat was so lost in thought when Seto opened his door. She looked up and found herself staring into angry blue ones. 


	12. 12 midnight fight and Seto's desicion

"Can I help you?" He stated rudely. Cat stared at him, numb from her discovery. 

"Well?" Seto asked when she didn't answer. Cat swallowed, she couldn't let him know that she knew. 

"I…I wanted to talk to you." She said finally. Seto closed the door to his room. 

"So talk." He said as he walked to the living room. Cat followed as he sat down on the couch and looked at her. Cat stood in the middle of the room, unsure of how to start. Seto continued to look at her expectantly as she sat down across from him. 

"I wanted to ask why you were so rude to Marik this morning." She said. Seto rolled his eyes. _'Not him again!' _ He thought. Cat noticed as she sat up straight in the chair.

"He hasn't done anything to you to receive that kind of treatment." Cat said. 

"Why does it even matter to you how I treat him?" Seto asked with bored expression. 

"Because he is my friend, and he doesn't deserve your rudeness." Cat replied. 

"Is he just a friend?" Seto asked, desperately hoping her answer was no. Cat blushed at the question as she looked at the floor. 

"That has nothing to do with this." She responded. "I'm just asking why you feel the need to shoot him evil looks every time you see him." Seto didn't know that Cat had noticed his glares at Marik, but he wasn't about to tell her why. He was Prince Seto Kaiba! He didn't get jealous. Especially over some common girl like her, and yet jealous he was every time Marik showed up. But he wasn't going to admit it, not in this lifetime. 

"I just don't like him." He said coolly. 

"But why?" Cat asked frustrated. "He hasn't done anything!" 

"Not to you." Seto replied, his temper starting to show. 

"What are you talking about?" Cat asked. Seto glanced aggravatedly around the room, trying to think of something to cover up his slip up. 

"You know what; it's none of your business anyway." Seto said angrily as he got up and walked out of the room. Cat looked startled as his sudden outburst but followed him anyway. 

"That is so childish Seto!" Cat yelled as she followed him down the hall. "All that I ask is that you be polite when you see him. I don't care if you like him or not. Fake it if you have too!" 

"I'm not going to go out of my way just to be nice to your little friend just because you want me to." Seto retorted as he tried to get away from her. 

"You are such a jerk Seto!" Cat yelled at his retreating back. Seto stopped as he whirled around to face her. "I mean what is it with you? Why are you so rude to everyone?"

"Why don't you just to learn to mind your own business!" Seto said his face close to hers. "So just do me a favor and leave me alone!" Seto turned his back to her as he slammed the door to his room. Cat fought against the tears the pricked the back of her eyes. She wasn't going to cry, no! Not over a jerk like him. She walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch sadly. That conversation hadn't gone the way she has planned it. Not at all. She sighed. His words had cut her deep, and the fact that it had hurt her so much shocked her. Sure she was attracted to him physically, what girl wouldn't? But she could never fall for a guy like him. Not someone as rude and arrogant and as much as a jerk as he was. And yet, she knew she was lying to herself. She did like him, she liked him a lot. And the fact that he was currently mad at her made her want to cry.  As she sat there, she wondered to herself why she didn't tell him that she knew who he was. Surely if he knew, he would leave. And that was why she had kept her mouth shut. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted to be around him, close to him. So she would keep his secret. She knew why he was there, to find the crystal obviously. But she didn't care. Cat stood up and slowly walked to her room, hoping Mai was asleep so she wouldn't have to explain the tears that streaked her face. 

Seto leaned against the door that he had just slammed in her face. He hadn't meant to yell at her, not at all. She wasn't the one he was mad at. And yet he had just taken all his pent up anger and yelled at her. He wondered what would happen when she found out who he really was. She would probably hate him for lying about his identity. And once he had the crystal, his reason for staying was gone and he would have to leave. Never to see her again. But wait, he was still a prince, and his kingdom would eventually need a princess. Seto gave a small smile, yes that was it. When he found the crystal he would just take her with him. Away from Marik, and her brother, and his dorky friends. Sure she'd be upset for a while, but she would get over it. Seto lay down on his bed, his intent of finding the crystal renewed. Once he found it, everything would be perfect. 


	13. 13 Seto's discovery

Cat kept her distance from Seto in the few days that followed. And if Yugi or any of the others noticed, they didn't say a word. Cat was grateful they didn't bring it up; she didn't want to be reminded that Seto had told her to leave him alone. Seto noticed her sudden quietness around him, only speaking when the occasion called for it. And he knew he was the reason for her silence. He had told her to leave him alone, and she did. And Seto for all his pride didn't take back his words, although he desperately hoped that she would forget what he said and talk to him again. She didn't. Marik, however, was thrilled with the way things were going. With Cat and Seto not speaking, he became a regular at the house. A few days after the fight Cat and Seto were alone in the house. Cat in the living room, Seto in his room. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts as she opened it to reveal a servant from her father. 

"Princess Cathryn." The man said bowing as she let him inside. "I have urgent news from your father." Cat looked at the man with a worried expression. 

"Yes? What is it?" she asked. 

"A raid on the castle was made last night, and your father fears of the crystals safety." The man reported. 

"Is everyone alright?" Cat asked. The man nodded. "Yes, but your father asked me to give you this." The man reached inside his coat pocket and drew out a white handkerchief. 

"What is this?" Cat asked as the man handed it to her. 

"It is the crystal my lady." He said as Cat unwrapped the white cloth to look at it. The crystal glittered in the light, illuminating her face with a myriad of colors. 

"Oh." Cat gasped as she stared at it. 

"You must protect it. You and the prince." The man said urgently. 

"I will." Cat said solemnly as she wrapped the crystal back up. The man nodded in relief as he left and made his way to the castle. Cat turned and headed toward the attic when she saw Seto open his door. 

"Who was that?" Seto asked. 

"Marik." Cat lied. "But he's gone now." Seto rolled his eyes at the mention of Marik as he went back into his room. Cat made her way up the attic steps. She reached the top of the stairs as she looked around the small room. The only light came from a small circular window that was on the wall. The room was filled with dust as Cat carefully hid the crystal in a drawer. She smiled in satisfaction at a job done as she left the attic and went to her room. 

Seto waited until he heard the door to her room close as he headed straight for the attic. He knew she had been lying. He reached the attic as he looked around. 

_'She must have hid whatever it was up here.' _ He thought as he noticed where the dust had been disturbed. He quickly opened the drawer and unwrapped the cloth. 

_'I've found it!' _He thought triumphantly as he held up the crystal. He smiled, now he could go home. A creak on the stairs alerted Seto to someone coming as he quickly hid the crystal again and moved to the opposite end of the room. Cat's face appeared at the top of the stairs as she looked at him in surprise. 

"Seto?" she said, question in her voice. "What are you doing up here?" 

"I was looking for an extra blanket for my room." Seto made up. He winced inwardly. _'An extra blanket?'_ he thought. _'What kind of lame excuse is that? Who keeps blankets in the attic!'_

"Oh." Cat replied. "Well they are right over there." She said moving to a trunk in the corner. Seto blinked in surprise as he shrugged. Whatever. Cat opened the trunk as she handed him a quilted blanket. 

"Here." She said with a small smile. Seto reached for it, his hand touched hers. Their eyes met as they stood there. The blanket between them, his hand covering hers. 

Cat was mesmerized by his blue eyes as she stared up at him. "Seto." She whispered. Seto leaned closer. 

"Yes?" he asked. 

"I'm sorry about what I said. During our fight." She began when Seto cut her off. 

"Don't mention it." He said as he leaned in closer. "Cat." He said softly as he leaned in to kiss her. 

"CAT? KAIBA?" Joey's voice rang though the house, followed by a door being shut as Seto growled in irritation, the moment broken. Cat shook her head as she took her hand away. "If you need anything else tell me. OK?" 

Seto nodded mutely as he followed her down the stairs, swearing to kill the mutt that night. 


	14. 14 Out in the open

Seto waited for his chance to get the crystal. Now that he knew where it was, all he had to do was take it. And once he had the crystal all he had to do was take Cat with him. He smiled as he made his way up the attic stairs, envisioning it. He would return home, triumphant. Crystal in one hand, a beautiful princess for his kingdom in another, only having just whisked her off her feet and onto his blue eyes moments ago. He smirked at his plan as he opened the drawer he had found the crystal in yesterday afternoon. He unwrapped the white cloth as he held the crystal in his hands once again. Looking at its polished surface.

"It really is pretty." He muttered to himself. It looked a lot like the crystal from his kingdom, almost exactly alike. He pocketed the crystal and shut the drawer. Now the only thing left to do was take Cat. Unfortunately he was home alone at the moment, and Cat would get home when everyone else arrived. He would have to wait for the right time, then he would take her with him when she was alone. Seto made his way down the stairs and into the living room right as Joey, Mai, Yugi, Cat, and Marik walked in. Seto gave his usual glare at Marik as everyone filed into the house. Marik noticed the glare, and was planning on ignoring it when he noticed Cat's smile to him. Marik looked back at forth at the two. No! It couldn't be. And yet it had happened, they had made up and right under his nose! Marik clenched his hands into fists.

_'I will not have my plans ruined.'_ He thought with a growl. _'I will  have Cat and be pharaoh!'_  with the impending threat of every one of his plans going down the drain, Marik returned Seto's glare.

"Why must you insist on glaring at me every time I come here?" Marik asked angrily. Everyone was startled by Marik's sudden outburst as they looked to Seto for his answer. Seto's glare intensified as he and Marik locked eyes.

"Because I don't like to look at losers like you." Seto said coldly. Marik gave a smirk.

"I wouldn't insult me if I were you." Marik said knowingly. "I know who you are."  Seto's eyes widened in surprise, but quickly masked his expression. He was bluffing, he had to be.

"Know who he is?"  Joey said confused. "What is he talking about?"

Seto and Marik ignored every else as they continued to stare each other down.

"You have no idea of what you are talking about." Seto challenged, his tone low. Marik's face twisted into a triumphant smile.

"Oh don't I?" Marik said. "Or maybe I am wrong in telling everyone here that you are their enemy!" Everyone turned a shocked face to Seto except for Marik who stood with his arms crossed, looking smug.

Seto chose not to acknowledge Marik's accusation. "And what proof do you have of that?" Seto couldn't let Cat find out that he was from Tlanth like this. He had to make sure that she would come with him first, and then he would tell her. But no, not this way. She would think he betrayed and lied to her. Marik strode over to Seto before he could object and pushed up his sleeve, revealing the small KC imprinted on his arm.

"You see, I was telling the truth. He is Prince Seto Kaiba, and he is just here to steal the crystal!"

Seto jerked away from Marik as he glanced at Cat. She stood there in shock. Because while she knew that Seto was the prince, and she knew why he was there. She didn't know that Marik knew. And that came as quite a shock to her. Seto misread her reaction and closed his eyes. Guess he wouldn't be taking her after all. But he had the crystal, and that was what he came for. He reached into his pocket and wrapped his hand around the crystal.

"Alright, so now everyone knows who I am." He said in a calm voice. "And that means I have no reason to stay here with you freaks!" He said as he showed them that he possessed the crystal.

"The crystal." Yugi said.

"When did he get it?" Mai asked as Seto ran out the door, summoning his blue eyes. Cat, who had been too shocked to say anything, was snapped back to reality by Seto's rush to the door.  He wouldn't leave. No! He was a good person, she knew it. This was all just a joke! It had to be. Seto wouldn't do that, not to her. She chased after him, pushing past a surprised Marik. She searched the skies as she saw Seto's blue eyes, flying to the north and fast.

"SETO!" she yelled as she summoned her Pegasus. She jumped on its back as she flew after him. Seto saw her coming after him as he increased their pace, assuming she was trying to get back the crystal. Cat's Pegasus might be fast, but it was no match for his blue eyes. Cat went after Seto as long as she could, calling out to him; to no avail. He was simply to far ahead. Cat sadly turned her Pegasus back to home, tears blurring her vision. She had to turn back. Any further and she would be entering enemy territory, and who knew what would happen.

"Seto." She whispered sadly. "Please, come back. Don't leave me." 


	15. 15 realizations of love

Cat went straight to her room as soon as she got back home, not saying a word to anyone. She sat at the foot of the bed, staring forlornly at the floor.

"I'll talk to her." Mai said to the other three as she followed. Marik looked at Yugi and Joey, both holding faces that showed their shock.

"This game keeps getting weirder and weirder." Joey muttered as Marik rolled his eyes.

How stupid could one person be? Really! Deciding that there was no point in staying, Marik left soon after. He shut the door a little harder than necessary as his hands shook in anger. When he told everyone who Seto was, he expected Cat to be outraged at his lying to them. Instead, she had chased after him, trying to get him to stay. It wasn't fair! Marik found a seat and sat down, racking his brain for an idea. Now that he knew that Cat had some kind of feelings for Seto, even if it was just an attraction. He had to do something to get her to turn away from him. He brooded for a moment when an idea hit him. He smirked. It was sneaky and underhanded. But if it worked, Cat would be all his. Marik stood up and left, ready to carry out his plan.

Cat was still staring at the floor when Mai entered.

"You ok?" Mai asked as she sat on the bed next to her. Cat shook her head.

"I knew who he was Mai." She confessed. "I knew, and I didn't say anything."

"Why not?" Mai asked.

"I didn't think he would do it. I guess I thought that maybe, he would like being here with us. Being here with me." Cat stood up and walked over to the window.

"But I was wrong."

Mai looked at Cat as she stared out the window.

"No, you weren't wrong." Mai said softly. Cat's expression hardened. "I mean, why do I even care?!" Cat shouted as she closed her eyes.

"I mean, he lied to us all! He was a jerk to everyone! He calls us all names like losers and he calls Joey the mutt! I should be glad that he's gone!" Cat sat down in a chair with a huff.

"But you're upset he's gone." Mai responded to Cat's tirade. Cat looked away as Mai continued. "You want him to stay."

"Yes." Cat said softly. "I do."

"Why?" Mai pressed. She knew why, the trick was getting Cat to figure it out on her own. Cat looked at her confused.

"I don't know why!" Cat shouted frustrated. "I mean he's just a big, rude, egotistical, jerk!"

"Then why do you want him to stay?" Mai continued.

"I don't!" Cat said crossing her arms looking determined. "I don't need him!" Mai nodded. "Your right. He never did any good here anyway."

"Yes he did!" Cat protested, as she sat up, uncrossing her arms. Having heard Mai say that Seto was useless made her want to jump to his defense "He helped us out a lot with his blue eyes."

Mai shrugged, "So he had powerful duel monsters. He was too much of a jerk to miss."

"No, he may have acted like a jerk, but he really is a sweetheart underneath! I know that he is! That's what I love…." Cat's voice dropped off as Mai smiled. Now they were getting somewhere. Cat suddenly felt weak as she sank to the bed. "I…I…I love him." She said in a small voice. Saying it out loud made Cat realize that it was true. She was in love with him, and she had been for a long time. "I love Seto Kaiba!" she said louder. She turned to Mai who was standing next to her with a smug expression.

"You knew I did." Cat accused. Mai smirked. "Course I did. Being bored night after night, hearing you talk about how rude he can be. How could you not be in love with him?"

"Mai, I have to find him!" Cat said urgently. Just then the two girls looked to the door as Yugi and Joey entered.

"Guys, we have a battle." Yugi said as he indicated a letter in his hands.

"What?" Cat asked, still lost in thought over how to find Seto.

"Since Kaiba got the crystal, the entire kingdom is going to Tlanth for a showdown right now. Everyone is ordered to go." Cat and Mai looked at each other and nodded mutely. All four left the house and headed for the border between the two kingdoms. Cat praying that she could get to Seto as she mounted her Pegasus and took off into the air.


	16. 16 deception

Seto watched from atop a building near the border as the many battles raged on below him. He and his father had known that a war would break out once word got out that Seto had the crystal, and they were right. The king of Kierra wasted no time in declaring war. And since there was a war going on, Seto couldn't go and get his kingdoms crystal. So, he did the only thing left to do, he fought in the war as well. It was a magnificent war too. Every available fighter that Kierra had was there, on Tlanth lands, fighting to the best of their ability. But there was one team that Seto couldn't find. A small, portly servant, standing next to Kaiba, continued to scan the surrounding fights and shout out the types of monsters.

"Oh look Prince Seto, that boy there." He said jumping up and down, pointing. "He has a witch of the Black Forest! And look, that girl has a Jinzo. Hahaha! That boy's monster fell into one of our trap cards!" Seto ignored him as he continued to watch the battles. He preferred not to waste his time on these pathetic wanna be duelist. He would wait until someone worthy of challenging his Blue Eyes came along.

"Oh! Prince Seto! Some new arrivals!" The servant squeaked as Seto turned a bored expression to look them over. His eyes widened; his heart fluttering as Cat gracefully dismounted her Pegasus. The servant took no notice of his prince's reaction as he raced to the side of the crumbled building to get a better look.

"There are four of them my lord." The servant reported. Seto watched as Cat summoned a monster and went on the attack, taking down a battle ox. The servant next to Seto laughed.

"See that girl my lord?" he asked not even looking at Seto. "She thinks she can win her battles with that Pegasus and Blackland fire dragon." The servant continued to laugh as Seto watched. He breathed a sigh of relief when Cat defeated another monster as he let out the air he didn't know he had been holding. Seto immediately turned to the hyper servant at his side.

"Go immediately and tell everyone that that girl is under no circumstances to be harmed!" he ordered. The servant blinked in response.

"My lord?" he questioned as Seto's eyes blazed.

"You dare question me!?" Seto thundered as the servant backed a few paces away, shaking his head violently.

"Never, Prince Seto!" he stammered. "But she is the enemy my lord, and…." The servant's words were cut short by a glare from Seto. "And..." Seto said again.

"If she is captured, I want her brought to me at once!"

"But…my lord…" The servant tried again as Seto reached for his blue eyes.

"Do as I have commanded or you will be severely punished!" The servant stood there a moment, terrified at the thought of being punished as he gave a trembling bow.

"As you wish, my lord." He said as he scrambled off to do the prince's bidding. Seto rolled his eyes as he turned once more to watch over Cat.

_'She will not be harmed.'_

Marik smirked to himself as the servant Seto had just dispatched with the message ran past him.

_'So, Seto wants to make sure nothing happens to her huh?'_ he thought with an evil grin. _'How sentimental. Makes me want to puke.'_ He thought bitterly. But, things were about to change. Yes indeed. Marik turned and headed toward the direction that Cat was battling in, taking the gold millennium rod out of his pocket as he walked.

 The battles lasted well into the night as Cat did her best valiantly fighting off the enemies monsters with zeal. It was her fault they had gotten the crystal, and she was going to make sure they got it back. But her team was slowly losing the duels and it was becoming apparent that if they wanted to live to fight another day, they would have to retreat. Already a number had retreated, and there were only a few remaining duelists left.  It was getting dark as she got rid of another monster. As soon as she felled one, she turned to another, not noticing Marik taking the mind of a red archery girl. The monsters forehead glowed with the eye insignia as Marik gave it a command. The archery girl turned and pointed it's arrow at Cat's back, pulling back the notched arrow.

_'Wait for it. Wait for it.'_ Marik thought to himself as Cat turned around. "Now!" Marik shouted as the arrow sped through the air. Cat's eyes widened with pain and shock as the arrow hit her shoulder; she fell to the ground with a cry.  Seto's heart stopped as he saw the arrow hit her. He had been watching from his rooftop view, and immediately began running to get to her side. Marik smiled as he released the archery girl of his mind control and walked slowly to where Cat had fallen. Rain started to lightly fall as Marik used his millennium rod to change his appearance in the game. After all, he still had mind control over the operators of the game, he owned the game! He walked to where Cat lay gasping as he stood over her, her eyes closed in pain. She opened them slightly as a familiar voice spoke to her.

"Die." Was all the person said. But that one word held so much loathing and hate as Cat tried desperately to place the voice. She opened her eyes wider as Seto's face swam into view.

"Seto?" she rasped _'No! He couldn't. Not Seto! He wouldn't do this to me!_' she thought desperately. "Seto, help me." She whispered, pleading with him, as she saw him turn his back with a cruel smirk and leave. "No!" she thought hopelessly, her heart breaking as she lost consciousness and went limp. Marik smirked at her expression as he once again returned to his normal appearance, and walked off. Leaving Cat lying alone in the mud and rain, an arrow through her shoulder.


	17. 17 saving the one you love

It didn't take long for Yugi and the others to notice that Cat was hurt. Yugi immediately ran to his sister's side, while Joey and Mai took over where his Dark Magician had left off.

"Cat! Cat!" Yugi called, trying to revive his sister as he knelt down beside her.

"Yugi?" Cat murmured as Yugi's face blurred and became clear. "Yugi!"

"Are you alright? We got to get you out of here!" Yugi said as he tried to move her. Cat winced as Yugi stopped his attempts.

"No Yugi, you have to get everyone else out of here!" Cat said, the pain she was feeling showing in her voice. "We can't win. You have to order the retreat and take them home."

"But what about you?" Joey said as he and Mai ran and stopped next to them.

"I'll be fine." Cat insisted. "Don't worry about me. You guys need to do what needs to be done!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Yugi protested as Cat put a weak hand on his.

"Come on Yugi. You as the prince have a right to your people to lead them out of here! I'll still be here when you're done, and I have my duel monsters." She said looking at her Pegasus that was hovering over her. "Please Yugi. They need you!" Yugi nodded slowly. He knew she was right. If they were going to beat this game, then he had to make sure that his team would live to fight another day.

"Besides," Cat said interrupting his thoughts. "That arrow only took 1000 life points, I still got 3000 left."

"Alright." Yugi said standing up. "We'll be back for you." He said.

"Maybe I should stay with her." Joey volunteered.

"No!" Cat protested. "He needs both of you. I'll be fine."  Mai and Joey nodded as they ran off with Yugi and Cat sank back to the ground, breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and fell unconscious again, welcoming the blackening relief from the aching pain in her shoulder and in her heart.

Seto continued to run toward Cat as he saw Yugi and his friends leave. Seto gave a growl of disgust, what kind of a brother was he? Leaving his sister like that! Seto reached Cat and knelt beside her, cradling her head as the rain continued to fall from over head.

"Cat?" he whispered. "Cat?" he tried again after no answer. He shook with anger, he had told his duelists not to attack her! Someone would pay for this.

Two of Seto's servant saw him and ran toward him, noticing how he was bent over the form of a girl.

"Prince Seto?" They questioned as he turned cold blue eyes toward them.

"You!" he yelled as they stepped back in fear. "That was your archery girl that shot that arrow!" Seto accused angrily. The man shook his head and held out his hands palms out.   
"Prince Seto! I never issued that command!" The man protested as Seto silenced him with a glare. Seto turned his attention back to Cat as he studied the wound. The first thing to do was to remove the arrow.

"Hold her!" Seto ordered as he propped her up against the now kneeling two men. The men looked at each other, then to Cat, and back to Seto.

"Um, my lord…" The other man began nervously. "She is not one of our…"

"Silence!" Seto yelled at them as they quickly shut their mouths. Seto's expression softened as leaned closer to Cat.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but we are going to take out the arrow, it will hurt, but it needs to be done." He said to her gently as he broke off the tip of the arrow. Then steeling himself he pulled the arrow out as Cat gave an unconscious scream of pain. Seto quickly tore off part of his coat and wrapped it around her shoulder, discarding the broken arrow. The two men looked to Seto for instruction as Seto picked her up bridal style. Seto looked at them then at Cat Pegasus, who was watching nearby, ready to step in if anymore harm came to it's mistress. Once the monster saw its master was being taken care of, it disappeared in a flash of light and returned to its card form.

"Take that card and put it back in her deck." Seto ordered sternly as they two men rushed to do as commanded. Seto then summoned his Blue eyes and took off into the air, flying toward the familiar house. Cat stirred in his arms as the wind rushed over her face. Seto hugged her protectively to him as they landed outside. He walked up the front steps and laid her gently next to the door.  "Seto?" Cat murmured as she opened her eyes a crack and saw the familiar brown hair and stunning blue eyes. "Seto?" she whispered again. Seto took no notice of her identification of him as he stood up. He then knocked and rushed off, vaulted onto his blue eyes and flew off. But not before making sure that Yugi found her and took her inside. He smiled, knowing she was safe now and returned home.


	18. 18 making decisions

After Seto has deposited her at the house and left, Yugi found her and quickly took her inside. With Joey and Mai's help, he rebandaged her wound and left her alone to sleep. Marik came by later that day. He had intended to save Cat himself, but by the time he came back, she was gone. He had assumed that Yugi and the others had found her. He knocked loudly on the door as Joey answered.

"Marik." He said in a curt greeting.

"Is Cat here?" Marik asked, knowing full well that she was.

"She's not feeling well." Joey answered.

"May I see her?" Marik persisted. Joey shrugged as he watched Marik walk to Cat's room.

"I really don't like that guy, Yuge." Joey said to Yugi as he came to see who was at the door.

"Remember Joey, he might be just a computer program, and nothing like the real Marik." Yugi pointed out. Joey shrugged.

"Still don't like him." He responded as the two left the room.

Mai looked up at Marik pushed open the door. Mai stood up and left as Marik entered. She, like Joey didn't trust him either, and whether a computer program or not; she didn't want to have anything to do with him. Marik smirked at their response to him as he went to stand over Cat. She was pale, against the sheets and her shoulder was bandaged. Marik sat down next to her.

"You will probably wake up any time now, and when you do. I'll tell you all about how Seto shot you, and how I beat him off." Marik smiled triumphantly. He leaned back against the wall, arms crossed. It was only a matter of time now. Marik wasn't sure how long he stood there when Cat started to stir.

'_Finally.'_ Marik thought aggravatedly. Cat didn't wake as she moved a little.

"Seto." She said quietly as Marik rolled his eyes. She was still thinking of him!

"I love you, Seto." She whispered. Marik stood there, hands at his sides, staring in shock. _'No!'_ he thought angrily. _'He just shot her!'_

"How can you still love him!" Marik angrily questioned the sleeping girl, his face next to her ear. "Tell me!" he hissed. "How can you still love Seto Kaiba!?"

Cat moved in her sleep a little more as she winced from the pain in her shoulder.

"I know you didn't shoot that arrow, Seto. And I saw you. You saved me." She muttered to herself as if in answer to Marik's question. Marik's world rocked as his eyes widened in disbelief and shock.

_'No! It's not fair! I made sure she saw his face before she passed out!'_ Marik clenched his hands in fury as he slowly disappeared from the game.

Marik sat in a chair as he watched the monitor that showed the sleeping Cat.

"Don't think that this is over." He sneered. "I will have what I want. And I won't stop at anything." He stood up as he headed to the door. "I was nice this time, but don't think that next time will be this easy!" he yelled as he slammed the door behind him. Fine! If that was the way it was going to end, then he would keep the game operators under his control. They wouldn't be able to beat the game that way, and with Yugi and Cat gone; he could rule as pharaoh.

"I should have just done this in the first place." He said to himself as he got on his waiting motorcycle and roared off. 

Not long after Marik left, Cat woke from her sleep. She sat up, and stared at the wall, her mind thinking about everything that had happened.

"Seto." She said quietly. She needed to see him, now. Cat slowly got up and put on the white dress she had worn at the beginning of the game. She gingerly wrapped the white cape around her wounded shoulder and fastened the clasp. She then walked over to her chest of drawers. After rummaging around, she held up a crystal, one that looked very much like the one Seto had stolen. She put the crystal on a chain around her neck and gazed at her reflection. Satisfied with what she saw, she pulled the hood of the cape over her face, grabbed her Pegasus card, and soundlessly left the room.


	19. 19 caught

No one saw or heard Cat as she silently shut the door behind her. But that was the way she wanted it to be. If Yugi or any of the others found out about what she was about to do, they would defiantly try to stop her. No, it was easier this way. She summoned her Pegasus and sat on the horses back. Her monster rose into the air and spread its fiery wings as it soared into the sky. Cat sat still, the wind blowing across her face as she shivered. She hugged the white cape tighter around her as they neared Seto's kingdom's border. Cat issued the command to land as her Pegasus swiftly obeyed. Slowly spiraling down and landing gently on the ground. Cat slid off his back as her Pegasus once again became a card. She slipped the card in a pocket on the inside of her cape as she took a deep breath. She stood at the edge of the border. One more step and she would be in Tlanth. Steeling herself, Cat took a step and entered Tlanth, enemy territory. Unarmed and alone. Cat walked calmly through the streets, heading toward the castle. That was where Seto would be.

Hiding behind a building, four soldiers of Tlanth watched the streets.

"It's boring sitting here." One gruff looking man said.

"Boring or not, we have our orders. The king and the prince said to watch for any enemy warriors." Another answered. The gruff man crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back with a sigh.

"It may be orders but it is still boring." The gruff man replied. "Come on Darrek. Even you can think of something better to do than this." The man named Darrek gave his friend a stern look.

"Hey guys." A tall man said. "Look at this." He pointed at a lone figure clad in white, walking calmly forward. The others quickly stood up and looked at the person.

The gruff looking man started to chuckle. "Looks like a girl."

"Come on, let's go check it out." Darrek said as the others agreed. Interested in the mysterious girl.

Cat was walking when four men suddenly came out from behind a building. They quickly surrounded her as she stood there, waiting to see what would happen.

"Hello there missy." The gruffy man drawled.

"Hello." Cat responded with a small nod.

"Care to tell us what you are doing out here, and so alone?" the tall man asked.

"I have somewhere I need to be." Cat answered as she tried to step past them. The quickly moved in front of her blocking her exit. Cat felt a lump in her throat as she tried to remain calm.

"You're not from around here are you?" Darrek asked.

"Course she isn't. I recognize her from the battles a few days ago. Her Pegasus took out my Hitotsumi Giant." Another said. One of the four men, was the small portly man that has been standing next to Prince Seto at the time. He squinted his eyes, looking at her, trying to see through the shadows from her cape that covered her face.

"I know her!" He cried suddenly. "And I have special orders to take her!" he said. His comrades looked at him in confusion as the small man took her hands and tied them in front of her. "She is the princess of Kierra. Can't you tell? She has on the royal robes and everything. I know just what to do with her!" Cat felt her heart drop. It was over now. She was now a prisoner and who knew what they would do. Especially with someone of her status.

"You're coming with us!" the gruff looking man said with a smirk as they finished tying her hands and took her away.


	20. 20 brought before the prince

Cat was roughly jerked forward as the tall towers of the castle of Tlanth came into view. She winced as she tripped over a rock, the sharp stone cutting her leg. The gruff man in front of her grunted as she tried to regain her balance. Cat was scared stiff. She had no idea what was going to happen to her now. The thick ropes that bound her wrist together were tight and her hands were starting to turn white and loose feeling from circulation being cut off.

_'I bet they are going to take me straight to the dungeon.'_ Cat thought sadly. _'Now I'll never get to see Seto. It's over. Seto will never go to the dungeons and the king of Tlanth will try to get my father to serve them in exchange for me. I should have just stayed home.' _Even if what Cat thought was true, she knew that she never could have stayed home. She loved Seto to much and she would never be happy until she told him. But it didn't look like she was going to get her chance.

"I say we take her straight to the dungeons." The gruff man said with an evil smirk as they passed by the first guarded gate. He gave the rope a tug to see her reaction.

The tall man shook his head. "The inquisitors will want to see her. She will have a lot of information about Kierra."

"She might not talk." The gruff man said as if he hoped it would be true.

"They have ways of making people talk." The tall man responded indifferently.

Cat's mind raced with different ways that they would try to get her to talk, none seemed very pleasant. She tried to hide her fear with a poker face; she would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"I bet the King will want to see her." The man named Derrek said suddenly. Cat felt a surge of gratefulness to this man. He didn't seem to be as cold hearted as the rest of them were. In fact, he was the only reason she was still conscious instead of slung over the gruff man's back unconscious like a sack of potatoes. Out of the four that had found her, he had the most consideration for her predicament. The tall and gruff man didn't care what happened to her. And the short portly man that had said to take her to the castle had run ahead to tell the castle.

"The king can see her after we get the information!" the tall man replied.

"I still say we throw her in the dungeon first!" the Gruff man retorted. Cat's fate was tossed around between the three men as they approached the castle doors. The short man ran to them as they neared.

"I will take her now." He said, grabbing the rope from the gruff man.

"What are you going to do with her!" he demanded. The short man looked incensed as he straightened his shoulders.

"I have my orders. You are dismissed."

The three men looked at Cat once more then left.

"Follow me." The short man said, not looking at Cat as he led her through the castle. Cat stared at the floor silently, wondering at her fate. The short man looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

_'I can see why the prince wants this one unharmed.'_ He thought to himself. He then noticed how torn and ragged the bottom of her cape and dress were and he shuddered inwardly. _'Prince Seto will not be happy with this, no not at all.'_

Seto stared out the window of his room. He had heard that some of his men had caught a prisoner. Like he really cared who it was. The only person he wanted to see was Cat, and she was in Kierra, recovering from her injury. Just thinking about it made him want to punish the man who owned that monster. Everyone in the castle had realized that the prince was in a foul mood, and avoided him at all costs. Seto spent all day in his room, thinking about the only person who had ever really gotten him to smile. A small knock on his door interrupted his thoughts as he continued to stare out the window.

"Who is it!" he demanded to know.

"I have the prisoner my lord." a voice said from the outside.

_'So what!?'_ Seto wanted to shout. _'What were they bringing her to him for?'_ "Let her in."he replied. He still stared out the open window as he heard his door open and close and the soft walking of a female's footstep. Cat looked up to see Seto's back as she almost cried out in joy. She was going to get to tell him!

Seto slowly turned around as his face showed his shock at Cat stood there looking back at him. His eyes took in her royal robes of white and realized that she was the princess of Kierra.

"Cat!" he managed as his face once again became the solemn unreadable look. "What the heck are you doing here!" he yelled.

"I wanted to talk to you." Cat whispered. "I had to talk to you."

"About what!" Seto demanded to know, not moving from the window. "What could have been so important to tell me that you came here alone and unarmed! Do you know how dangerous that was?! How stupid are you? You have duel monsters you could have sent a letter!"

"What I have to say it too important to say in a letter." She replied softly.

"What then!" Seto shouted looking at her. "What is this important message that you just had to get yourself captured to tell me!"

Cat looked to the floor then slowly met his gaze. "I love you Seto."


	21. 21 feelings out in the open

Seto stared at her stunned for a moment, his mind trying to register what she had just said.

"What?!" he responded a little more harshly than he intended.

"I love you." Cat said again, staring at him. "From the time I first saw you I knew that I loved you. I don't know how I knew and I don't really care. I love you Seto Kaiba." Seto didn't say a word as he quickly strode over to her and kissed her passionately.

Cat pressed against him, as she kissed him back, her tied up wrists resting on his chest. Seto interrupted the kiss with a growl as he reached for a dagger at his side. He pulled it out of its sheath and quickly cut the ropes from around her wrist. One free, Cat threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again, putting all the love she felt for him in that one kiss. Seto hugged her to him in a crushing grip. Afraid that if he let go, he would find out that it was only a dream. Seto broke the kiss and stared into her golden eyes.

"I love you too Cat." He said to her as he kissed her again. The two broke apart, trying to catch their breath as Cat leaned against Seto's chest. Seto smiled as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"How do I know, that you aren't just here to get the crystal?" Seto asked suddenly, pushing her back to look into her eyes. Cat looked startled for a moment and then smiled.

"Because you never got it." She admitted. Seto looked at her puzzled as she touched the crystal hanging around her neck.

I figured that you saw where I hid it. So after we got interrupted that one time I went back up and switched it. I had the crystal the entire time." She said.

"You let your entire country go to war over a fake crystal?" Seto asked in disbelief.

She shook her head. "We had to make you think that you had the original. My father figured that if you thought that you had our crystal, then the protection on your would slacken and we could get it. We knew the entire time that it was safe."

"That's why you retreated." Seto said putting the pieces together. Cat nodded.

"How do you know that I won't take the crystal from you now?" he asked her.

"I don't" she admitted. "But I'm trusting you not too." She added quietly. Seto didn't answer as he pulled her toward him again. She was his now, and crystal or no crystal he wasn't going to let go. The two stood there for a while, just being with each other when a knock sounded on his door. Seto's eyes blazed at being interrupted as he strode over to the door and looked out. The gruff looking man was standing outside, holding another rope, a cruel smile on his face.

"I've come to take the prisoner to the inquisitor." He said, trying to look into the room.

"He has some questions for her." He said with an insinuation of a painful questioning. Seto's eyes shone with fury at the insinuation as he knocked the man against the opposite wall.

"If I hear that you have hurt a hair on her head, I swear you will regret the day you were born." He hissed, his face inches from the now startled man.

The gruff man's eyes were wide as he was pressed against the wall. "Yes prince Seto!" he stammered. Seto let go of him as he slid to the floor. He scrambled up and left as fast as he could. Not daring to look behind him. Seto returned to the room and shut the door after him.

"I never liked that guy." He muttered as Cat went over to him and rested her head on his chest.

"So what do we do now?"  She asked quietly putting her arms around him. Seto thought for a moment as he held her to him.

"The only thing to do. Let's get my countries crystal and defeat the monster that it reveals. And then we can be together forever. And No one will be able to take you from me."

Cat smiled as she hugged him tighter.

"I love you Seto." She whispered. Seto tilted her chin up and kissed her again.

"I love you too Cat." He said genuinely as he placed his hand on her cheek. "I love you too."


	22. 22 off to the realm

It didn't take long for Seto to retrieve Tlanth's crystal. Because now that they thought they had Kierra's crystal, they wanted someone to go to the Realm of the Beast, defeat the monster, and obtain the rare duel monster card that would help that kingdom rule forever. And since Seto was the Prince of Tlanth and had three Blue Eyes, he was the most obvious choice. Once the crystal was in his possession, he headed for the Realm on his Blue Eyes. Cat riding behind him.

"Do you know what kind of monster we will have to face?" Cat asked, feeling a little nervous.

"All I know is that it is a powerful one." Seto said. "But it doesn't stand a chance against my Blue Eyes."

Cat nodded her head silently. While she didn't doubt that Seto's dragons were strong, there was the chance that they might not be strong enough and she hoped that the card they were given would help them.

"What kind of card do you think we will get once we use our crystals?" Cat asked Seto.

"A monster card I would assume. Or a magic card." Seto looked back at her and saw the poker face she had on.

"You're not worried are you?"

Cat looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

"A little." She admitted. Seto gave her a smile and squeezed her hand.

"I won't let anything happen to you." He promised. Cat smiled back as they flew closer to the realm, its tall spires now showing in the distance.

"This place looks really big up close." Cat said to herself as she slid down off the back of Seto's Blue Eyes. Seto didn't respond as his dragon returned to the card.

"Are you sure that we can do this?" Cat asked him with a worried expression.

"Of course we can." Seto said, looking at her. Cat nodded with a determined nod and followed Seto inside.

The building had clearly been vacant for many years. The cathedral like structure was overrun with vines from the outside that had snaked their way in from the cracks in the walls. Broken pillars spotted the floors and various sizes of stones littered the ground.

"It looks like there was some kind of a battle here." Seto said, his voice reverberating in the silent room. They entered the room a bit further, looking around.

"I wonder who the winners were." Cat said, looking around at the rubble.

"I think we should be more worried about what happened to the losers." Seto replied, staring at a corner.

"What do you mean?" Cat asked coming to stand behind him. Seto lifted his finger in a point. Cat gave a gasp as she saw the statue that Seto was staring at. Cat moved to get a closer look.

"Seto, he has a card in his hand." She said as she got behind the statue to get a better look.

"It's hard to make out what it is." She said.

"That isn't the only one." Seto said. "There are more statues over there." Looking up, Cat saw that Seto was right. Now that she noticed, the room was scattered with statues, each holding a card or weapon.

"What do you think did this?" Cat asked breathless.

"I have a feeling that we will find out." Seto answered as he started walking through the room. "Come on."

Cat followed Seto through the room to enter a hallway. The hallway was in a slightly better shape than the room they had been in, but not much. There were still cracks in the walls and a few vines and plants growing. But there weren't any statues to make them feel nervous. They continued through the stone hall, their footsteps sounding loud in the quiet. After exiting the hallway, the two found themselves in a chamber; much larger than the initial room they had been in.

"Cat." Seto said quickly. "Come here. Look at this." Cat hurried to stand next to him, where he stood staring at the wall. On the wall was a person, holding two crystals. Next to it was another picture of the person placing the crystal in something and next to it another picture of the person receiving something.

"I bet its directions." Cat said. "To show us where to place the crystals." She concluded. "But….where?"

Seto turned around. "There" he answered.


	23. 23 Battle of the gods

Cat let her gaze follow to where Seto was looking. The wall on the opposite side of the room showed a picture of a person holding a card, with two crystals lying in small indentures on the wall.

"I think we are supposed to put the crystals here." Seto said stepping forward.

"You sure?" Cat asked skirting around the broken pieces of rock to follow him.

"Well, where else would we put it?" Seto replied logically.

"I don't know." She answered back, "But it just seems too easy."

"It's just placing a couple of crystals." Seto said with a roll of his eyes. "It's not supposed to be hard. It's the monster that you have to fight that is the hard part."

Cat was silent as she followed him. She had a bad feeling about the whole thing. Seto stood in front of the wall, running his fingers over the stone surface. When his fingers found the indentions he smiled as he took his crystal out of his pocket.

"Come on Cat." He said looking back at her.

"Seto, I think we should look around just a bit more first." She said, holding onto the crystal around her neck.

"Where else would we put them?" Seto asked, trying not to become impatient. He loved her, but she could be so stubborn sometimes.

"I don't know!" Cat retorted, "But I think we should look around just a bit more…please?" Seto looked at her expression and sighed.

"Alright"

Cat flashed him a grateful smile and looked around. The stone room was decently sized, dimly lit, and in about the same condition as the other rooms that they had been in or passed. Parts of the walls were even missing, causing black gaping holes to stare into, causing a person to think of horrendous things that might jump out at you.

"Well…see anything?" Seto asked.

"No." Cat replied softly.

"Well then, lets do this my way." He said as he walked back over to the wall and took out his crystal. Cat silently followed him as he reached out to place his crystal in the indention. As soon as Seto's crystal touched the wall, the room began to violently shake.

"What's happeneing?" Cat asked as Seto held onto her.

"Hurry, put your crystal in. It must be the monster we have to face." Cat fumbled for the crystal hanging around her neck and got it off the chain. She reached over to place it next to Seto's when the room lurched. Cat dropped her crystal as she and Seto fell to the floor, her crystal rolling off.

"Seto! The crystal!"

"We don't have time to worry about it right now!" Seto said getting up as a huge shadow filled on of the doorways.

"What is that?!" Cat asked, her eyes wide. As if in answer to her question, a gigantic golden creature emerged.

"It's the winged dragon of Ra!" Cat exclaimed. The winged dragon gave an almighty roar as it began tearing up the room. Seto pulled Cat out of the way of an attack as he look to the wall where he had placed his crystal. Two small rectangular shapes had appeared next to his crystal as he ran over to grab them. He flipped the two cards over.

"What are they?" Cat asked leaning over his shoulder.

"It's Obelisk and Slyfer." Seto said, yelling over the noise Ra was making. Seto raised one of the cards and summoned it.

"I call upon Obelisk the Tormentor!" The huge blue form of Obelisk rose from the card as Ra unleashed a powerful attack. Obelisk caught the blast and wrestled with it.

"I call Slyfer the Sky Dragon!" Cat yelled as the long red serpentine form of Slyfer wound it's way around Ra, trying to crush the golden god monster. The three gods roared and battled, as Cat and Seto dodged rocks and attacks.

"It's not working!" Cat said to Seto. "Ra is too strong, the best they can do is hold him off for a while…but soon Ra will beat them!" Seto looked to see that Cat was right. Slyfer was slowly going slack and Obelisk looked like he was tireing…while Ra continued to unleash his fury.

"Seto…." Cat said turning his face to hers. "What are we going to do? It's not enough." Seto looked back at her and hugged her to him.

"I don't know."


	24. 24 a way to beat Ra

Seto and cat continued to stand there, trying to think of any cards that they might have in their deck to defeat the huge god monster. While the two thought, Obelisk and Ra locked hands and pushed against each other in a massive power struggle.

"Seto!"

Seto looked up when Cat said his name as his face paled. Ra was pushing Obelisk back, and suddenly the blue god vanished into a million bursts of blue light. Ra roared in triumph as he turned his attention onto Slyfer.

"He's beaten Obelisk!" Seto said in a whisper.

"And now he's going after Slyfer." Cat added. "Seto, if we don't do something soon…we're going to lose."

"I know, I know" Seto replied, racking his brain for any card that he had that could help them out. Cat did the same as she caught a glimmer of something out of the corner of her eye. She looked up, scanning the room to find the source. She saw it again, a small white flash of light in one of the dark holes in the walls that led to somewhere else. Cat took a step forward as Slyfer gave a final roar and then like Obelisk scattered into a million bursts of red light.

"We're on our own now!" Seto said in warning as Ra turned to them. Ra opened his mouth, gathering energy for a blast. He then unleashed a beam of light aimed at the two on the ground.

"Look out!" Seto yelled as he pushed Cat away from him. The attack hit the floor between them, sending huge cracks running around the floor. Massive dust clouds rose from the floor, engulfing Ra, Seto, and Cat.

"Seto?" Cat coughed as the dust filled her mouth.

"Are you alright?" Seto voice said, coming from the other side of the room.

"I'm fine." She yelled back as the dust began to settle. Once the dust cleared, they saw that the room had been divided into two. Cat and Ra on one side; Seto on the other. Ra continued to tear up the room as Cat tried desperately to avoid his attacks or falling debris. As Cat ran she saw the white glint of light again. She ran toward the source. Ra saw her movement out of the corner of his eye and charged up for another attack.

"Cat look out!" Seto called in an attempt to warn her as Ra unleashed his attack. Cat jumped into the hole as an enormous explosion sounded behind her where she had been standing.

"CAT!" Seto yelled. Thinking that one of them was gone, Ra now turned his full attention onto Seto. Cat picked herself off the ground as she moved over to the glittering object.

"It's my crystal." She said as she heard Seto calling a monster to defend himself. "Hang on just a little longer Seto." She muttered as she stood up and scanned the side room she was in. Like the previous room, there were pictures and caricatures lining the wall, showing various scenes.

"Come on….help me out here." She said to no one in particular. The crystal in her hand glowed as if on command and shot a beam of light to another indention on the wall. She moved over to it to examine it, There was the indention for the crystal and five lines underneath it, Taking a breath she placed her crystal in the groove as the five lines shot out from the wall. Cat took a step back in shock as her face registered what the cards were that lay on the panels that had previously been the five lines. She grabbed the cards and ran back into the room where Seto was still valiantly trying to ward off Ra.

"Seto!" she called out to him. Seto risked a glance at her as his face showed his relief to see that she was ok.

"We can beat Ra!" she yelled holding up the five cards. Hearing her cry Ra spun around and shot a blast at her. She ducked as the beam of light narrowly missed her shoulder. But the blast knocked one of the cards out of her hand.

"Oh no!" she cried as the card fluttered in the air and silently slipped into a crack on the floor.


	25. 25 beating the game

"Seto! We have to get that card!" she yelled as they managed to stand next to each other.

"What are they?" he asked. She showed him the remaining four cards and he smiled. "That might work." He said.

"But we still need the other card!" she reminded him. The two had to dodge another attack from Ra as he continued to tear up the room.

"We have to beat Ra now before he causes any more damage!" Cat said.

"And preferably before he brings the building down on us!" Seto said.

"Wait! I can get the card." Cat said as she began to riffle through her deck. "Petite Dragon!" a small serpentine dragon appeared next to her as she pointed to where the card had fallen.

"Go down that crack and get the card." She ordered. The small dragon gave a nod of affirmation and disappeared from sight, slipping into the crack. It reappeared a few seconds later, a card held firmly in its mouth.

"Great job!" Cat praised as Ra turned its eyes to the dragon. Ra unleashed an attack on the tiny monster as it burst into tiny pink balls of light; the card in its mouth floating to the ground. Cat ran forward and grabbed the card. Holding it up triumphantly.

"Head of Exodia!" She yelled as a large blue summoning circle appeared behind her. She held up the other four cards to join the first.

"I summon Exodia! The forbidden one!" Two chained arms shot out of the summoning circle behind her and Seto, followed by two feet and then a head slowly emerged. Ra gave a roar at the intrusion as Exodia came to stand behind Seto and Cat.

"Now Exodia…" Cat said looking at Seto.

"ATTACK!" they both said together. Exodia charged forward and met claw for hand with Ra. The two massive monsters battled. Ra, the winged Dragon, against the unstoppable Exodia.

"It's not going to work." Cat said moving closer to Seto.

"Yes it will!" he said, holding her close. The two monsters continued to duel it out until finally Ra gave an almighty roar and with one more final attack shattered into a million small burst of golden light.

"We did it." Cat said in awe as Exodia, his job done, faded from view.

"We did it Seto!" She yelled as she threw her arms around his neck. "We beat Ra!" Suddenly, the room began to swirl as the floor, walls, and ceiling all met and Cat and Seto fell into the darkness.

Cat opened her eyes to see the virtual reality visor over her eyes. She pushed it away as the top of the pod she was in lifted.

"Seto?" she said aloud, looking around the room.

"That game was messed up!" A familiar Boston accent commented.

"Joey?" Cat said getting out of the pod as Joey, Mai, and Yugi exited their pods as well.

"I'm glad it's over." Mai said. "But you seemed to enjoy it Cat. You were really getting into it." Cat looked at her thinking.

"But…at the time…I didn't realize it was a game." She said slowly. "I thought it was real!" The three looked at her as Cat looked around.

"Where is Seto?! He should be here." She looked at his virtual reality pod but it was vacant. "Seto?" she called. A harsh laugh could be heard in the direction of the control room as they turned to see Marik.

"So you managed to beat the game." Marik said with a smirk. "I'm surprised. Even with the game rigged against you, you pulled it off."

"Where is Seto!" Cat demanded. Marik's smile grew even wider as he illuminated the control room. Cat gasped.

"SETO!"


	26. 26 forcing her hand

Seto was strung up against the wall, Marik holding the dagger like end of the Millennium rod against his neck. Seto face was a mask of fury as he glared at Marik.

"Let him go!" Cat pleaded. Marik laughed.

"What do you want Marik?" Yugi demanded.

"I want what I have always wanted, the power of the Pharaoh." Marik answered.

"Then leave Seto alone! He can't give that to you!" Cat answered, her fists clenched in worry.

"He may not, but you can Cathryn!" Marik said.

"Me!" Cat said in surprise. "How can I? Yami is the Pharaoh, not me."

Marik shook his head, "It amazes me how little you buffoons know of the ancient scriptures." He said. Cat narrowed her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Joey questioned.

"Yami may be the reincarnation of the Pharaoh, no doubt about that. But since Cat is Yugi's sister, she is the reincarnation of the Pharaoh's sister." Marik informed them.

Cat's eyes widened. "What?!"

Marik rolled his eyes. "It's true. And if I kill Yugi and marry you, then I will become Pharaoh."

"You can't be serious!" Cat shouted at him. "You think that I am just going to stand by and let you kill my brother and then marry me! You're more insane than I thought!"

Marik's eyes narrowed at the insult. "I think your going to do everything I say."

"Fat chance!" Cat said crossing her arms.

"Have you forgotten who I have up here with me?" Marik asked, giving Seto a poke in the ribs with the dagger. Seto winced and gave a muffled cry as the dagger tip cut into his side.

"Seto!" Cat said, her voice filled with worry.

"Now be a good girl and come up here." Marik said, lowering the control room so that it was level with the ground. Cat moved forward and stepped inside as Marik raised it again. She tried to move next to Seto but Marik stopped her. "That is close enough." He said. Cat gave him a glare then looked at Seto.

"I'm fine." Seto said, reading her expression.

Once Marik had raised the control room again four rare hunters silently entered the room where Yugi, Joey, and Mai still were. The rare hunters grabbed the three as Marik gave a triumphant laugh.

"Let go of me you freak!" Joey yelled as he squirmed in the hunters grasp.

"Marik let them go!" Cat said, asking for their safety.

"No one will get hurt if you do as I say." Marik said as an evil grin crossed his face. "Well, not everyone." He added. Marik grabbed her arm.

"Now, say you'll marry me." Cat looked at him in horror and shook her head. "Never!" Marik looked at her and showed her the Millennium Rod.

"I have Kaiba's life in my hands, as well as your brother and friends." Cat looked around from Marik to Yugi then to Seto.

"Cat no!" Seto said, struggled against the chains that held him. "I won't let you do this!"

"If I don't; he'll kill you!" She said tearfully. "And your life means more to me than my happiness."

"Cat!" Seto murmured. "I love you! Don't give in to him."

"I have to Seto. I love you." She said as she turned to Marik. "Before I agree to anything you have to promise that Yugi, and them and Seto will go free!" Marik shrugged.

"Whatever you want my dear, but you have to uphold your end of the bargain. That means no running away and you will marry me without a fuss!" Cat gave one last look at Seto as he violently shook his head.

"You have my word." She said softly. Marik smiled, "Excellent." He said.

"You will pay for this Marik!" Seto threatened as Marik ignored him.

"Then it's settled." Marik said. "But just in case you have second thoughts…" Marik let go of her arm and moved toward Seto.

"What are you doing!" Cat cried.

"Eliminating the competition!" Marik responded. Cat leapt at Marik and tried to take the rod from him. "You promised!" She yelled. Marik wrenched the rod free from her and harshly pushed her back. Cat hit the wall with a loud thud and slid to the floor.

"Cat!" Seto yelled.

"I think you need to start worrying more about your own life, than hers." Marik said advancing on him, the dagger like end glittering menacingly.

"You will pay for this!" Seto threatened as Marik chuckled.

Marik stood in front of the chained Seto and raised the rod over his head. "Good bye Kaiba." Marik said when suddenly the room went completely pitch black.


	27. 27 problem averted

"What!" Marik shouted as the room was engulfed in blackness. "What's going on!" Suddenly Marik was thrown to the floor. He hit the ground with a thud, his Millennium Rod went skittering across the floor. Similar sounds from where Yugi and the others were could also be heard.

"Alright Sakura, turn them back on." A familiar childlike voice said.

"Mokuba?" Cat said in surprise.

The lights came back on to reveal Mokuba on the floor with Marik knocked out underneath him. Mokuba gave a small thumbs up sign. "You ok Cat?" he asked getting up off the floor to release his brother.

"Fine" she replied as she hurried over to help Seto. After Seto had been unchained he ruffled Mokuba's hair with a grin. "Thanks kiddo." He said.

"Anytime big bro." Mokuba replied with a proud grin.

Cat hugged Seto fiercely. "Did he hurt you?" She asked him; examining his cut side.

"I'm fine." He reassured her. "Yugi!" she said suddenly as she ran to the glass window and looked down. Yugi looked back up at her, waving cheerfully as the rare hunters were being shuffled out of the room by the KaibaCorp security. Mai was talking to a black haired girl that Cat had never seen before.

"So you want to let us in on what happened?" Cat asked Mokuba turning around.

"Well, I got done with my homework and came to watch the test run of the game. When I got here I saw a girl looking for Mai."

"You mean that girl down there?" Cat asked.

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah, it's her sister. Anyway, we came in and we heard Marik threatening to kill Seto. I called security and while I came up here Sakura went to the power switch and waited for my signal. Then she turned out the lights and I jumped Marik."

"Good thinking." Seto said with a smirk. Mokuba looked proud as Cat sighed and put an arm around each Kaiba brother.

"I'm just glad neither of you are hurt. I don't know what I would have done if something happened to either of you."

Mokuba blushed. "We're fine." He said as the three lowered the control room to the bottom level. They stepped out as Yugi, Mai, Joey and the new girl walked over to them.

"Good to see you're alright Kaiba." Yugi said.

"I'm fine." Seto replied curtly.

"Glad you don't have to marry that creep." Mai said to Cat.

"you and me both." She said with a small laugh.

"What happened to the rare hunters?" she asked.

"The security took them away." Sakura said as she stepped forward and help her hand out to Cat. "By the way, I'm Sakura. Mai's sister."

Cat shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I better be getting home." Mai said. Sakura nodded. "That's why I am here. To make sure you don't get into anymore trouble getting home." Mai gave her a look.

"We'll walk ya home." Joey said to Mai. Yugi nodded as well as they four left the building.

Marik slowly opened his eyes to see Yugi and Joey leaving with two girls. His eyes moved to where Seto stood with his arm around Cat, Mokuba at his side. His eyes narrowed as he searched for his Millennium Rod. His eyes spotted it in the corner as he slowly made his way toward it. He grabbed it without notice and stood up. He cast one last glare at Seto with his arm around Cat before sneaking out a back entrance of the control room. He jumped on his motorcycle and roared off.

"Enjoy your moment of triumph now Kaiba." He muttered to himself. "But I will have the power of the Pharaoh."


End file.
